Condition indicator of an automotive cooling system



Sept. 18, 1962 w. w. ROCKLEN I 3,054,391

CONDITION INDICATOR OF AN AUTOMOTIVE COOLING SYSTEM Filed Jan. 16, 1961 T I l l I l I ite tatcs Patented Sept. 18, 1962 corporation of Connecticut Filed Jan. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 82,985 Claims. (Cl. 123-4115) This invention relates to protective installations for automotive cooling systems, and more particularly to condition indicators of such systems for timely prevention of breakdown thereof.

It is common knowledge that with the higher-compression engines of today breakdown of the cooling systems therefor may occur fairly early and does occur more frequently than with older lower-compression engines. Yet, although sudden breakdown of cooling systems without warning is on the increase, nothing has been done to prevent such breakdowns or at least afford ready indication of beginning breakdown to permit its arrest in time by removing the cause or causes thereof which more often than not is leakage of air or combustion products into the cooling system Or excessive electrolysis therein or leakage of coolant therefrom.

It is the primary aim and object of the present invention to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of a type which at a mere glance indicates the present conditions of these systems, including beginning or more advanced breakdown thereof, thereby to point unmistakably and in time at the need of searching for and removing the cause or causes, hidden or otherwise, of breakdown the moment its beginning is indicated by the telltale device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of this type which displays for ready view a small proportion of the impurities in the systems that nevertheless affords a fairly accurate indication or gauge of the overall amounts of these impurities therein, including any telltale effects of breakdown usually and primarily in the form of foreign particles of rust or scale, or both.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of this type in the form of a filter which is in the path of part of the continuously circulating coolant in the systems to trap the aforementioned small proportion of the impurities therein, and which in its texture is such as clearly to reveal to view the trapped impurities therein both as to quantity and kind.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of the aforementioned filter form which is arranged at a constricted part of the circulatory path in these systems, and preferably at the usual hose connection between engine eXit and radiator inlet, thereby placing the filter for its most convenient and direct observation as well as for trapping impurities which would reach the radiator and the trapped quantities of which afford the most accurate indication of their overall amounts in the systems.

A further object of the present invention is to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of filter form which is confined in its entirety in and visible through a transparent conduit with which it forms a filter unit that is conveniently interposed in the aforementioned hose connection between engine exit and radiator inlet, thereby making for ready installation of this filter unit in new cooling systems and for its equally ready installation in existing cooling systems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of the aforementioned filter unit form which alfords the most direct and least tortuous path for impurities into entrapment therein for enhanced accuracy of the indication or gauge by the quantities of entrapped impurities of the overall amounts of these impurities in the systems, by arranging the filter itself in tubular form which fits in its transparent enclosure and has in its peripheral wall-thickness adequate filter depth for entrapment of the desired proportion of the overall amount of impurities in the systems. In thus arranging the filter unit, the same is also of exceeding structural simplicity and low cost and, even more importantly, offers no appreciable impediment to the normal circulation of the coolant which is so important for effective cooling.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for automotive cooling systems a telltale device of the aforementioned filter unit form which also includes a Visible part of a suitable self-sacrificing metal that is anodic to the iron in the cooling system to protect the latter from the corrosive effects of electrolysis and indicate the extent of electrolysis in the system by the condition of this part.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction With the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an installed telltale device embodying the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sections through the device substantially as taken on the lines 22 and 3-3, respectively, of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view the telltale device of FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through a telltale device embodying the present invention in a modified manner; and

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 3 thereof, the reference numeral 10 designates a telltale device or condition indicator in use with an automotive cooling system which conventionally comprises the cooling jacket or jackets in an engine block and cylinder head, a radiator, hose connections between them for circulation of coolant through them, and a pump for circulating the coolant. FIG. 1 shows only part of one hose connection of an automotive cooling system, and the condition indicator 1!) which by its installation becomes a part of the automotive cooling system.

As is well known, breakdown of the cooling system, or more specifically failure of the radiator to lower the temperature of the coolant pass-ing therethrough sufiiciently to prevent overheating of the engine, is due to clogging of the numerous narrow passages through the radiator with foreign particles that circulate with the coolant. These foreign particles are mostly rust or scale, or both, from the metal, and usually ferrous, walls of the circulatory flow paths of the cooling system which are subjected to corrosion from any of the aforementioned causes. Accordingly, since radiator cores are customarily made of copper which will not corrode, it is in the rest of the cooling system, and especially in the cast engine block and cylinder head, Where corrosion from any of these causes will take place, with the ensuing foreign particles of rust or scale being by the circulating coolant carried to the radiator. The present indicator 10 is designed to aflford at a glance a reliable indication of the condition at all times of an automotive cooling system, including breakdown of the same by calling attention to the earliest signs thereof, namely, rapid accumulation or an excessive amount of foreign particles in the circulating coolant.

of a prominent part of The present condition indicator is in the featured form of a tubular filter unit which is interposed in and forms a length of the circuitous coolant path in an auto motive cooling system and, moreover, is fully exposed to view so that its condition may be determined at a mere glance. To this end, the filter unit 10 comprises a transparent conduit 14 and a contained filter device 16. The conduit 14, which is preferably rigid and may be made of any suitable transparent plastic, is preferably interposed in the usual hose connection 18 between engine exit and radiator inlet, the hose connection 18 being to this end severed or provided in two separate lengths and the filter unit interposed therebetween with its transparent conduit and held in place by conventional clamps 20, as

shown. a

The filter device 16 is also tubular and comprises, in the present instance, a filter 22 and a liner 24 therefor. The present filter 22 is a body or meshwork of entangled strands, such as brass,'for example, which. are packed fairly tightly so that the filter has a porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant. The exemplary filter 22 of a meshwork of entangled strands is sustained in its general tubular form by the liner 24 which presently is of metal and in the form of a sleeve 26 with outwardly turned flanges 28 at both ends. The sleeve 26 is with its end flanges 28 fittedlyreceived in the transparent conduit 14 and forms therewith an annular chamber 30 in which the filter 22 is located and retained for ready View through the conduit 14. The end flanges 28 are presently recessed at regularly recurring intervals peripherally thereof to leave them with triangular tongues 32 and openings 34 therebetween for ingress of coolant c to and its egress from the filter 22. Thus, assuming that the coolant circulates through the systemin the direction of the arrow 36 in FIG. 1, the filter 22 will through the openings 34 be in the direct path of part of the circulating coolant. The sleeve 26 of the line 24 is, in the present instance, provided longitudinally and peripherally thereof with punched inward louvers 38 which are also in the path of the circulating coolant and thus divert additional coolant into the filter 22.

The liner 24 with its sleeve 26 and end tongues 32 may advantageously be blanked from flat sheet stock and the tongues 32 turned therefrom, whereupon the remaining flat part of the blank may simply be rolled up into the sleeve formation 26 with the sides thereof overlapping as shown at 40 in FIGS. 2 to 4.

The liner 24 is in this instance also provided with several, presently three, equi-angularly spaced longitudinal U-channels 42 'which with their bases 44 are suitably secured, as by rivets 46, to the sleeve 26 and extend with their spaced sides 48 to, or substantially to, the.

transparent wall 50 of the conduit 14. Due to the present interposition of the channels 42 in the annular chamber 30 in the conduit 14, the same is interrupted thereat, compelling the provision of three separate filter pads 51 which together make up the filter 22.

The liner 24 is, by virtue of the present rolled-up formation of its sleeve 26, resiliently expansible and contractible, diametrically, within limitsfor its advantageous fitted reception in, and forced engagement of its tongues 32 with the walls of, transparent conduits of different diameters. To further secure the filter device 16 in the transparent conduit 14, however, the sides 48 of the U-channels 42 are intermediate their lengths provided with notches 52 which interlock with an annular inward 'bead formation 54 in the wall 50 of the conduit 14.

The transparent conduit 14 and filter device 16 are assembled as a unit for its quick and easy installation as such in an automotive cooling system, new or old. When thus installed, some of the circulating coolant will pass through the filter 22, but preferably a predominant part of the circulating coolant in the conduit 14 will pass un- I 4- impededly through the central passage 56 in' the filter device 16. This is even true of the filter device 16 with its exemplary dimensional arrangement shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, though its is preferable, but not compulsory, to

hold the wall thickness w of the filter device smaller than is actually shown for .clearness of illustration. Since the indicator unit 10 is preferably installed in the hose connection between engine outlet and radiator inlet, foreign particles circulating with the coolant through the indicator unit will inevitably reach the radiator and either pass through or gradually clog the same. A proportion of the foreign particles, if any, passing with the coolant into the indicator unit 10 will, of course, become trapped in the filter 22, and these trapped foreign particles in the filter are readily discernible through the transparent conduit 14 as to their quantity as well as kind. If the trapped foreign particles in the filter are of the kind which may and will clog a radiator, such as rust and scale, a relatively rapid accumulation of such foreign particles, or a large accumulation thereof over an extended period of time, in the filter, will most certainly indicate beginning breakdown, or imminent breakdown, of the cooling system before the engine overheats. The indicator unit 10 thus affords a timely warning, certainly understood by automobile mechanics and filling station attendants and also by most drivers themselves, that the automotive cooling system needs not only checking but a search for the existent cause or causes of imminent or already started breakdown of the system and removal of the cause or causes thereof.

The featured tubular form of the indicator unit 10 and its direct interposition in the circuitous coolant flow path as a length thereof in an automotive cooling system is, of course, highly advantageous not only from the point of offering the least impediment to the coolant flow in its circuitous path which is all-important for efiicient performance of the system, but also from the point of obtaining from the amount and kinds of foreign particles trapped in the filter a most accurate indication of the overall amounts and kinds of these foreign particles in the entire system, and most importantly, in the radiator. The channels 42 in the present indicator unit 10 are further advantageous in that they afford to the circulating coolant and foreign matter therein throughpassages which due to their relative shallowness permita far more accurate visual analysis of the matter passing therethrough than the much greater depth of the coolant and foreign matter therein in the transparent conduit 14 beyond both ends of the filter device 16. The channels 42 and their confronting wall portions of the transparent conduit 14 thus also form visible passages for coolant in which readily and unmistakably to observe the particular change or changes of color in the coolant which indicates deterioration of the latest permanent antifreeze solutions therein.

. The present indicator unit 10 points at any and all causes of imminent or early breakdown of an automotive cooling system without, however, giving an indication of the exact cause or causes, among which may be electrolysis. To indicate the specific occurrence of electrolysis in the cooling system, the present indicator unit 10 may be provided with a part or parts of a metal which is particularly vulnerable to electrolysis and will show early signs, namely corrosion, of the occurrence of electrolysis. Such a part or parts in the present indicator 10 may be one or more of the channels 42 which to this end may be of a metal which is self-sacrificing to electrolysis, such as zinc, for example. Thus, assuming that the channels 42 are of a self-sacrificing metal such as zinc, they will first show thecorroding effects of electrolysis such as occurs and, hence, protect the othermctal parts of the circuitous coolant path which are subject to corrosion from the adverse effects of electrolysis. Of course, if theself-sacrificing metal of the channels 42 shows too rapid or excessive corrosion, this is a sure sign of excessive electrolysis in the system and a clear indication to correct the situation.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a modified form of condition indicator 10a of an automotive cooling system which differs from the described indicator 10 primarily by having a onepiece filter device 16a in a transparent conduit 14a. The present filter device, or simply filter 16a, is also tubular, and is presently formed of cellulose fibers which are bonded together by a suitable resin sufliciently loosely to have adequate porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant. Owing to the nature of its composition, the present filter 16a is naturally less porous than the earlier described filter 22 with its meshwork of entangled but unbonded strands, but the present filter 16a will perform its designated function even if coolant does not flow nearly as freely therethrough as in the earlier filter 22. For this reason, the wall-thickness of the present filter 16a is preferably kept even small er than that of the filter device 16 in FIGS. 2 and 3, and also smaller than is actually shown in FIG. 6 for clearness of illustration. Owing to the somewhat fragile nature of the resin-bonded fibers of the present filter 16a, the latter is structurally reenforced by a relatively heavy rigid resin coating 60 on its inner wall. This resin coating 60 is to all practical intents and purposes impervious to liquid, wherefore coolant may enter the filter only at its end faces. To admit coolant and foreign particles therein directly to the outer periphery of the filter 16a for the entrapment of foreign particles thereat and their ready observation through the transparent conduit 14a, the filter is longitudinally fluted at 64 at recurring intervals peripherally thereof, with the flutes 64 extending from the filter end 66 toward but terminating at 68 short of the opposite filter end 69. Accordingly, with the coolant ca circulating through the conduit 14a in the direction of the arrow 70, coolant and foreign particles therein. will freely flow into the flutes 64, with the coolant passing gradually through the pores of the filter and the foreign particles becoming permanently entrapped in the outer layer of the filter in ready view through the transparent conduit 14a. The present filter 16a may have a sliding fit in the conduit 14a and engage with its end 69 an inward dimple or dimples 72 in the conduit 14a to be securely held thereagainst from endwise rearward displacement by the force of the coolant circulation in the direction of the arrow 70 (FIG.

A one-piece filter of the general type shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may also be adapted for fitted reception in transparent conduits of different cross-sectional areas. Thus, by opening the closed tubular filter of FIGS. 5 and 6 by longitudinally separating its wall at one side thereof and omitting the reenforcing inner resin coating 60, the filter is sufiiciently flexible to be diametrically expandible and contractible to fit conduits of different diameters, within limits, with the filter retained in the conduit by a resilient spreader ring or rings (not shown).

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system with a circuitous coolant flow path, comprising a longitudinal transparent conduit interposed in and forming a length of said flow path with its interior visible to view; and a tubular filter having a peripheral wall with opposite ends fittedly received in said conduit and being with one wall end in the direct path of circulating coolant in said conduit, said wall having a porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant in visual display through said transparent conduit, with said filter having also a central through-passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant and foreign particles circulating therewith so that the trapped particles in the filter are indicative of various stages of breakdown of the system.

2. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system with a flexible hose connection between engine exit and radiator inlet, comprising a transparent conduit for leakproof interposition in the interrupted hose connection to form a length of the latter with its interior visible to view; and a tubular filter having a peripheral wall with opposite ends fittedly received in said conduit and being with one wall end in the direct path of circulating coolant in said conduit, said wall having a porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant in visual display through said transparent conduit with said filter having also a central through-passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant and foreign particles circulating therewith so that trapped particles in the filter will be indicative of various stages of breakdown of the system.

3. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 2, in which said conduit has an integral inward shoulder formation, and said filter is received in said conduit with a sliding fit and bears against said shoulder formation in the direction of circulation of coolant through said conduit.

4. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system with a flexible hose connection between engine exit and radiator inlet, comprising a transparent conduit for leakproof interposition in the interrupted hose connection to form a length of the latter with its interior visible to view; a tube-like filter fittedly received in said conduit and being in the path of part of the circulating coolant therein and having a porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant in visual display through said transparent conduit, with said filter having a central through-passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant and foreign particles circulating therewith; and a part in and visible through said conduit and immersed in the circulating coolant therein, said part being of a self-sacrificing metal anodic to the iron in the cooling system to protect the latter from the corrosive effects of electrolysis and indicate the extent of electrolysis in the system by the condition of said part.

5. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system with a circuitous coolant flow path, comprising a transparent conduit of cylindrical form adapted for interposition in the flow path to form a length thereof with its interior visible to view; and a filter unit in said conduit having a cylindrical sleeve with outward flanges at both ends bearing against said conduit to form therewith an annular chamber, admission and discharge ports to and from said chamber of which said admission ports are in the path of part of the circulating coolant in said conduit, and a filter body occupying said chamber and being of a porosity to pass admitted coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant in visual display through said conduit, with said sleeve forming in said conduit a through-passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant and foreign particles circulating therewith.

6. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 5, in which said admission and discharge ports are recesses in said end flanges of said sleeve.

7. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 5, in which said admission ports are punched inward louvers in said sleeve longitudinally and peripherally thereof.

8. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 5, in which said admission ports are recesses in one of said end flanges and punched inward louvers in said sleeve longitudinally and peripherally of the latter, and said discharge ports are recesses in the other end flange.

9. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 5, in which said filter body is a meshwork of entangled metal strands.

10. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 5, in which said filter unit further provides a U-channel with opposite sides and a connecting base and extending in said chamber longitudinally throughout the same to interrupt it peripherally thereat, said channel being with its base secured to said sleeve and extending with its sides substantially to said conduit to form therewith a passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant visible through said conduit.

11. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system with a circuitous coolant flow path, comprising a transparent conduit of cylindrical form adapted for interposition in the flow path to form a length thereof with its interior visible to View; and a filter unit in said conduit having a cylindrical sleeve with integral recessed outward flanges at both ends bearing against said conduit to form therewith an annular chamber, of which said sleeve is a rolled-up metal sheet with overlapping sides and of sufficientresiliency to be diametrically contractible for its reception in said conduit with said recessed end flanges thereof being retained in engagement with said conduit with a resilient force, and a filter in said chamber being through said recesses in said end flanges accessible for the flow therethrough of part of the coolant circulating through said conduit and having a porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant in visual display through said conduit, with said sleeve forming in said conduit a through-passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant and foreign particles circulating therewith.

12. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 11, in which said conduit is provided with an annular inward bead formation, and said filter unit further provides a U-channel with opposite sides and a connecting base and extending in said chamber longitudinally throughout the same to interrupt it peripherally thereat, said channel being with its base s cured to said sleeve and extending with its sides substantially to said conduit to form therewith a passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant visible through said conduit, and said sides of said channel being intermediate their ends provided with laterally aligned notches for their releasable interlock with said bead formation to hold said filter unit in place in said conduit.

' 13. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 12, in which said channel is of a self-sacrificing metal anodic to the iron in the cooling system to protect the latter from the corrosive effects of electrolysis and indicate the extent of electrolysis in the system by the condition of said channel.

14. A condition indicator of an automotive cooling system with a circuitous coolant flow path, comprising a transparent conduit of cylindrical form adapted for interposition in the flow path to form a length thereof with its interior visible to view; and a one-piece filter of tubular form having a peripheral wall with opposite ends fittedly received in said conduit to be with one wall end in the direct path of circulating coolant in said conduit, said wall having a porosity to pass coolant but permanently entrap foreign particles in the passing coolant in visual display through said transparent conduit, with said filter having a central through-passage for unimpeded flow therethrough of coolant and foreign particles circulating therewith so that trapped particles in the filter will indicate various stages of breakdown of the system. 7 15. A condtion indicator of an automotive cooling system as set forth in claim 14, in which said filter core wall is externally longitudinally fluted at spaced intervals peripherally thereof with the flutes extending from the wall end in the path of circulating coolant toward but terminating short of the other wall end for entrapment of foreign particles in said wall in readily visible fashion at the flutes thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hudson Nov. 17, 1931 2,265,550 Smith Dec. 9, 1941 2,389,814 Pond et al. Nov. 27, 1945 Gascilo Nov. 1, 1955 

